Preview: Australia v Sri Lanka

Two time defending champions Australia will have to put David Warner's bar brawl controversy and questions surrounding their team culture behind them when they take on Sri Lanka in their final league fixture at The Oval. While it is a straight-forward equation for Sri Lanka, who have to win to qualify, Australia need to win big to better New Zealand's net run-rate to get through to the next stage. Brendon McCullum and his team will also be following this game keenly as a wash-out or a narrow Australian win will help the Black-Caps qualify for the semi-final.

Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka's recent success against Australia will provide them a psychological edge over their antipodean opponents - in the last 10 ODIs played between the two sides, Sri Lanka have won six while they drew the ODI series 2-2 earlier this year in Australia.

Sri Lanka have a nice batting unit in big three - Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, and Mahela Jayawardene - and a lot will depend on them in deciding the outcome of this match. Their batsmen fired in unison against England in the last match, with Dilshan, Jayawardene, and Nuwan Kulasekara making big runs. On the bowling front, Malinga will need some good better back-up from Shaminda Eranga and Rangana Herath to cause real damage to a seemingly fragile Australian line-up.

In this CT: Sri Lanka were skittled out for a paltry 138 against New Zealand in their tournament-opener, but a superb bowling performance by Lasith Malinga saw them very nearly defend the total before losing the game by one wicket. The Sri Lankan batsmen, however, gave a better account of themselves in their stunning run chase against England and romped home to a win in grand style. Led by Kumar Sangakkara's unbeaten 134, they chased down the 294-run victory target with relative ease to keep their semifinal hopes alive.

Team News: While Kusal Perera has failed in his previous two outings, he might be given one more chance. Sri Lanka are unlikely to tinker with their top-order. However, considering Australia's weakness against spin, they might think of bringing in mystery spinner Sachitra Senanayake in place of Lahiru Thirimanne.

For the team from Down Under, this match will not just be about tackling the threat posed by in-form pacer Malinga but also to regroup after the Warner incident. Australia have just one point from two games, starting their campaign with a defeat to England following which their game against New Zealand was washed out.

It will be a big test for stand-in skipper Bailey to turn Australia's fortunes around. While he will be satisfied with the efforts of the middle order, after their good showing against New Zealand, the top-order's poor form will be Bailey's main worry. Quick bowlers Clint McKay, James Faulkner, and Shane Watson did a decent job in restricting England to 269, when at one stage it looked like the hosts were on their way to a 300-plus score. They were also impressive against New Zealand, with McKay being the stand-out performer, picking up two wickets. Australia will be hoping that the bowlers continue in the same vein while hoping for the batsmen to fire.

In this CT: The struggling side will have to work on its batting frailties after proving to be no match to the English, suffering a 48-run defeat in what was dubbed as a prelude to the five-Test Ashes series in July-August. In their following match against New Zealand, the Australian batsmen were a lot better, with George Bailey and Adam Voges scoring half-centuries to help their team post a respectable total. The bowlers too did a fine job before persistent rain meant that the Aussies ended up sharing points.

Team News: Australia's regular skipper Michael Clarke continues to battle back problems, which saw him miss the first two matches, and it is likely that he will give this game a miss too. With David Warner also remaining suspended till the end of the Champions Trophy, Australia are likely to go in with the same line-up that faced New Zealand.

Weather Update: The forecast is for partly cloudy skies with a slight chance of rain. However, considering the fickle nature of the UK weather, it remains to be seen if a full fifty over game is possible.

The International Cricket Council made it clear that it had nothing to do with the absence of former Indian captain Ravi Shastri from the panel of commentators for last month's ICC Champions Trophy in England.

Former skipper, Sunil Gavaskar and other ex-cricketers on Tuesday said in unison that one should refrain from drawing comparisons between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his predecessors, insisting instead to rejoice India's success in the ICC Champions Trophy.